Cowboys Defense

[CCBoy]

That post is all about low standards.

No, the NFC East is going to be a very stable and competitive Division this season. As always in the past, with a competitive East, the winner goes strongly into the playoffs. Just the fact here...

 

[CATCH17]

It's not a joke. Irving flashed a lot of potential.

Yep...

Irving showed real upside last year.

 

[CCBoy]

It's not a joke. Irving flashed a lot of potential.

You tell him, some fans should pay attention to what is happening in camp...Irving has a ton of power and the ability to flex and turn the corner. When he gets his hands on an offensive linemen, he does some damage. As he gets better with full extension of his arms, he will be close to an actual 'Too Tall.'

 

[CCBoy]

 

[dfense]

PPG
New York Giants 30
Philadelphia Eagles 28
Washington Commanders 17
Dallas Cowboys 16

Takeaways
New York Giants 7(T)
Philadelphia Eagles 9(T)
Washington Commanders 9(T)
Dallas Cowboys 32

Sacks
New York Giants 26(T)
Philadelphia Eagles 15(T)
Washington Commanders 26(T)
Dallas Cowboys 19(T)

Just goes to show if the Cowboys had ranked say 17th in takeaways, they probably would be near top 10 defense.

 

[VACowboy]

With David Irving getting another TC under his belt, Crawford back to 100%, Thornton, Terell McClain, Scandrick, and Jones at Safety I'm not worried at all.

With the return of Scandrick, Mo healthy and confident, Jones concentrating on one position and the addition of Brown, I think the secondary will be tough. From the little I've seen, Tapper looks very promising.

 

[pugilist]

With David Irving getting another TC under his belt, Crawford back to 100%, Thornton, Terell McClain, Scandrick, and Jones at Safety I'm not worried at all.

This is assuming no injuries to those players

we have no depth

 

[CowboyRoy]

It's not a joke. Irving flashed a lot of potential.

What is he a 5th round pick that has never done anything? Potential on a guy like that is nothing more than wishful thinking. When he starts beating Smith consistently in practice and then starts getting sacks in real games, then we can start to say he could be something. Until then, I am not getting my hopes up for him beating 2nd and 3rd string lineman or undrafted rooke FA's.

 

[dfense]

Not sure what the point of this post is. None of our East rivals are considered legit SB teams. So throwing up our very mediocre ranking against theirs doesn't make much sense to me.

And for the record, I suspect the Eagles defense might end up being the best of the bunch. Certainly not great, but likely the best looking dog in a group of mutts.

One of my points was, none of the other teams seems to have a "defensive" issue as their big weakness. Defense seems to be touted as the Cowboys biggest problem when they were actually significantly better than the rest of the division. Imagine how much worse their rankings could have been (not that you could be worse than 32) if Romo and company did their ball control on them for 6 full games.

 

[dfense]

David Irvin? Is that a joke? Crawford is already hurt again and not practicing. Scandric and Jones are potential things to be positive about. Claiborne as well. Other than that, the defense looks completely aweful.

And yet they haven't played a single game yet...

 

[phildadon86]

With the return of Scandrick, Mo healthy and confident, Jones concentrating on one position and the addition of Brown, I think the secondary will be tough. From the little I've seen, Tapper looks very promising.

Tapper looks good, I am honestly very excited about him. I also really cant wait for Collins to come back into the fold on D. I think he is a very good player for the line rotation.

 

[Teague31]

As long as the D can finish middle of the pack we should be in every game

 

[CalPolyTechnique]

I've heard people explain this away by stating that our opponents were running the ball with a lead and that is why PPG is so low. However, the Cowboys lead or were tied in the 4th quarter in 11 games this past season. I think with a little more offensive juice, our team could have been vying for a playoff spot even without Romo.

That's only partly true. If you look at our run defense statistics/rankings from 2015 compared to 2014, it's drastic.

 

[Zimmy Lives]

One of my points was, none of the other teams seems to have a "defensive" issue as their big weakness. Defense seems to be touted as the Cowboys biggest problem when they were actually significantly better than the rest of the division. Imagine how much worse their rankings could have been (not that you could be worse than 32) if Romo and company did their ball control on them for 6 full games.

Your point was well made. The 2015 defense was by no means a top-rated unit but they were far from the reason this team failed to achieve success.

I do not believe them to be any better or worse this year but there are positives (return of injured players, free agent additions and youth) to consider. As last year, however, the overall success rests with the arm of Tony Romo and the potent Dallas offense.

 

[CATCH17]

What is he a 5th round pick that has never done anything? Potential on a guy like that is nothing more than wishful thinking. When he starts beating Smith consistently in practice and then starts getting sacks in real games, then we can start to say he could be something. Until then, I am not getting my hopes up for him beating 2nd and 3rd string lineman or undrafted rooke FA's.

Like it or not the guy showed talent.

Nobody in the NFL is going to beat Smith consistently.

This guy showed that he has the upside to be more than average.

 

[Denim Chicken]

That's only partly true. If you look at our run defense statistics/rankings from 2015 compared to 2014, it's drastic.

I wouldn't call 284 yards difference drastic and you would have to localize those to the forth quarter to have any kind of point.

 

[Zimmy Lives]

Like it or not the guy showed talent.

Nobody in the NFL is going to beat Smith consistently.

This guy showed that he has the upside to be more than average.

Reminds me a little of Leon Lett.

 

[CowboyRoy]

And yet they haven't played a single game yet...

That is exactly my point.

On the Crawford side, at this point the guy is a complete disappointment. He has never even had one breakout year or anything close. Now some will say its due to injuries. Maybe, maybe not. But at this point I think we have to say the guy is injury prone. From where I am standing, injury or no, the guy has been middling. The new DT from Philly, he has never been anything special. Solid run stuffer, that has been his mantra. And upgrade from last year no doubt, but a play making DT I dont see it. We are not on 2nd and 3rd string DE's.

 

[CowboyRoy]

Reminds me a little of Leon Lett.

 

[CowboyRoy]

Like it or not the guy showed talent.

Nobody in the NFL is going to beat Smith consistently.

This guy showed that he has the upside to be more than average.

He has the updside to be more than average?

Hardly a ringing endorsement. We need pass rushing demons on at DE, not guys that can hold the fort down.